


Scorpion

by Commanderskaikru



Category: The 100 (TV), scorpion kind of but not really
Genre: Aden is clarke's son, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Slow Burn, They're geniuses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:44:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Commanderskaikru/pseuds/Commanderskaikru
Summary: With an IQ of 194 Lexa Woods is the fourth smartest person in history. Together with her team of geniuses, named Scorpion, she works with Homeland agent Indra Forrest, using her intelligence to save the world. Her own world and her perspective of it is about to change when Clarke Griffin and her son Aden enters her life.





	Scorpion

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the 100 or Scorpion.  
> I just liked the idea of Clarke teaching a group of genius dumbasses how to behave.  
> Also English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes.

She can hear the helicopters long before she sees them. Her father yells her name. A door is kicked open. Her mother screams. The bedroom door crashes open and she's ready. 

«Immunity agreement and extradition waiver,» she says, holding up and pen and paper. «Sign them and I'll tell you how I hacked into NASA.»

One of the soldiers lowers his gun and picks up his radio, «Corporal to command. We have Scorpion,» he says and pauses, «she's just a kid.»

She is led out of the house in handcuffs, despite being a literal child, past the devastated looks from her family.

«I just wanted the shuttle blueprints for my wall,» she says.

Several cars pull up, and a woman in a suit steps out. She approaches her slowly and bends down to her level. «What's your name, kid?»

~~~~~

«Lexa?» A pause. «Lexa?»

Lexa snaps out of her trance and looks at the woman in front of her «hm?»

«Are you listening?»

«Yeah, you said 'I didn't see this coming at all'.» Lexa nods.

«I can't believe you're breaking up with me,» the woman says.

«I'll admit you have been patient with me.»

«Longest three months of my life. You're not easy, Lexa»

«I thought this might help,» Lexa pulls out a note from her pocket, «throughout our relationship you have accused me, correctly, of being unable to connect with your emotional state. So,» she folds out the note, «I mapped out what I anticipate you'll experience over the next few minutes.» she says confidently and the woman in front of her frowns as Lexa pulls out a pen. 

«You wrote a document to connect with me emotionally?» the woman says incredulously.

«Mhm,» Lexa nods enthusiastically, «and this is a decision-tree, it's just to help you through-»

«Hey, I pay you to fix wireless, not talk.» She is interrupted by a man walking up to the booth.

«You scheduled our breakup on a job?» the woman raises her voice.

«To be more efficient,» Lexa nods. 

«You may be trying, Lexa, but you're still a million miles from normal,» the woman shakes her head and leaves. 

Lexa is left frowning and wondering what she did wrong. This is not what she had anticipated. She had done her research and was sure the decision tree would help her now ex-girlfriend feel better about the breakup. She isn't sure where she went wrong and knows she's not going to figure it out, so she just gets up and starts working on the wireless she had come here to fix.

~~~~~

«Your table is here Bert, your tea is waiting for you and your eggs will be ready in five.» Lexa observes the waitress as she leads an old man to his table and helps him sit down. «You smell so good today, what is that? New cologne?» She watches her leave the man and tend to other customers as the owner yells at a young boy sitting at the end of the counter.

«Don't make a mess. Clarke, get your boy, he is all over the salt and pepper shakers.»

«I know, Nemos, I know,» the waitress, Clarke apparently, says, «he's just having a hard time adjusting at school. He'll be back next week, I promise.»

Lexa is watching the boy closely, there's something about him that draws her attention to him. The way he's playing with the shakers and the intense look on his face.

Clarke walks up to him and leans close, «hey honey, it's okay, Mr. Gianakos just likes to keep things neat. Remember we talked about that kind of thing before? Doesn't mean there's something wrong with you.» She strokes his back and walks back to her customers.

Lexa who was still observing them until now hurries to finish her work before walking up to the boy. She stops in front of him and moves one of the shakers, and the boy immediately moves another. They go back and forth like that several times before Clarke walks up to them with a concerned look on her face, «excuse me, can I help you?» 

Lexa looks up at Clarke, «no, but you should help him,» she says and starts walking to the exit, «wireless is up, don't yell at that boy,» she says to the owner as she walks past him and outside.

~~~~~

Lexa is in her car, listening to the some radio channel that's currently doing some kind of competition.

«If you're sick of being broke, for 108 dollars, which month has 28 days?» the radio host asks.

«All of 'em,» Lexa says nonchalantly.

«I, I, I actually know this,» a female caller laughs, «February?»

«We have a winner!» the host exclaims.

«Idiots,» Lexa says as she parks the car.

~~~~~

«Okay so, if my math is right – and it is – we can siphon 700 kilowatts a month through the fall before anyone even notices,» Monty says while looking intently at the math equation on the black board in front of him. He turns towards Raven to see her reaction «whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing? Over 30,000 shock-related accidents happen every year!»

Raven, who is standing on a tall ladder connecting a bunch of electrical cords in the ceiling, rolls her eyes, «please, I got this.» Just as she utters the words there are immediately sparks flying as the ligths around them turns on. «See? Power's up.»

«Why are you stealing electricity?» Lexa asks as she enters the garage. 

«Just borrowing it until they turn our power back on,» Raven answers and climbs down the ladder. 

«I thought we were paying the bills after the Credit Nationale job?»

«I was,» Monty answers, «I worked for three days on this great loss algorithm for credit risk-»

«You got lost in the numbers and forgot to pay the electric bill,» Lexa interrupts. 

«And the water bill and our rent. And the payment was all in cash, which got misplaced,» Raven adds. 

«It's somewhere.. close,» Monty tries. 

«When's the last time you ate?» Lexa asks him.

«You mean like, food?» he frowns at Lexa, who smiles and throws him an apple.

«Okay, it's cool, I finished the Lynwood job, Anya's picking up the fee,» Raven says.

«Anya? Why not you?» Lexa asks.

«I built the contractor an automated conveyance system and he called me Sugar,» Raven answers with raised eyebrows. 

«Hmm,» Lexa says understandingly.

«So I hit him in the mouth,» Raven continues as Lexa sighs.

«And Anya is where exactly?»

~~~~~

A few hours later everyone is sitting at their desks, minding their own business when Anya comes barging in to the garage.

«Shh! Keep your voices down!» she whisper yells. «Just for a minute.»

«Uhh, Anya..» Lexa begins while they all approach her. «Tell me you have the Lynwood payment.»

«First, can I note how I nearly tripled the Lynwood payment?» Anya says gesturing wildly with her hands. 

«So these thugs are chasing you down to give you a big congratulation?» Raven asks while looking out the window.

«I beat them in poker! They're born chumps! Pupils that dilate like saucers whenever they had a good hand,» Anya tries, hands still all over the place.

«Come on, a Harvard trained behaviorist should know that people don't like to get cheated!» Monty points out. 

«I hate you,» Raven states.

«No you don't»

«We have a combined IQ of nearly 700,» Lexa is now pacing and scrathing her head, «and we can't even pay our bills,» she chuckles. 

«We had a bad day!» Anya exclaims.

«We've been at this for two years!» Lexa says defeated. «The whole reason why I started this company is because we have more to offer than just fixing routers!»

«Lexa, I'm reading a textbook panic response to normal financial stressors,» Anya tries to calm her down.

«Okay, if this thing is going south Lex, just let me know cause I have a cousin who owns a garage in Phoenix..» Raven starts.

«No matter how hard we try – and I know we're all trying – we're a million miles from normal,» Lexa repeats what the woman had told her earlier and shakes her head. 

There is a long silence with everyone just looking at Lexa, taking in what she said before a sudden banging on the door snaps them all out of it and Anya starts shushing them. The banging stops as sudden as it began and they hear sirens approaching before stopping right outside their door. There's muffled talking before three knocks are heard.

«Homeland security!» A woman yells. 

«Is this you?» Lexa frowns at Anya.

«No!»

«We're looking for Lexa Woods!» the woman yells again.

Lexa frowns in confusion as a badge is slid under the door. Raven picks it up and throws it to Lexa who looks at it and nods at Raven to let them in. The woman walks through the door and Lexa immediately starts protesting.

«No, no, no, no. Get out. Get out!» she shakes her head. «Get out of here now.»

«I wouldn't be here if I weren't desperate, trust me.»

«Trust you? What is that – a joke?» Lexa says coldly.

«Who are you?» Raven looks at the stranger in front of her.

«She's Federal Agent Indra Forrest,» Lexa answers. «We worked together years ago. The outcome was unfavorable.»

«Put it aside, Woods. I need you,» Indra says. «45 minutes ago there was an automatic software upgrade in the LAX control tower. It had a bug,» Indra explains calmly. «Now the entire system's down.»

«Wait, all the communication's down?» Raven asks. 

«Contacts been lost between Long Beach, LAX and Burbank. Incoming flights have been diverted but the ones that were about to start their descent – 56 of them – are out of comm range. NSA's trying to work a satellite hook-up. FBI's attempting a Morse code signal from the observatory. We need you on software,» Indra says looking directly at Lexa. «Without landing guidance, those planes run out of fuel.»

«And crash,» Monty adds nervously. «And crash, Lexa!»

«Sound like.. catastophe is imminent,» Lexa answers coldly again. «So go find someone else. Now.»

«How about a certified Federal check for $50,000 in each of your pockets?» Indra asks and all but Lexa's eyebrows raise. «I ran checks on all of you. Mechanical prodigy, world-class shrink, a human calculator. Brilliant minds working at half capacity,» indra is looking at the rest of them now. «You want to do something meaningful? Here's your chance. You don't, people and metal will be falling from the sky in less than two hours.» She looks back at Lexa, «it's your call.»

Lexa looks at the badge in her hand, running her thumb over it. «Even with half my IQ, I wouldn't be dumb enough to believe you twice,» she says and throws the badge back to Indra. «Put it aside?» she repeats, «forget about it and move on is not an option for people with photographic memories.»

«Give us a minute,» Raven says and pats Lexa's shoulder as she walks past her. Lexa sighs and follows her further in to the garage. 

~~~~~

Anya casually positions herself beside Indra and follows her movement as Indra crosses her arms. 

«What the hell are you doing?» Indra asks coldly.

Anya looks at her for a second before answering, «I was mirroring you so your subconscious can relate to me. I thought it would help you relax.»

«Do you think it's working?»

~~~~~

«Breaking this down logically, we're not just going to let those people fall out of the sky.» Raven raises her eyebrows at Lexa.

«I'm telling you, I don't trust her,» Lexa says and crosses her arms.

«I get it, but without an influx of capital these two are just gonna go back to hacking banks,» Raven says and gestures to Monty and Anya, who are working on controlling Montys oncoming panic attack, «and the next forensic analyst they run into won't be as nice as you.» Lexa uncrosses her arms and looks down at the floor. «Now personally, I'm cool,» she continues, «I can handle myself.»

«Time is wasting!» Indra yells and they looks at her. «We got 56 planes to land.»

Lexa looks back at Raven and then to the floor. She really doesn't want to work with Indra again but the way everyone is looking at her, she knows she can't say no. Her own feelings don't matter right now, thousands of lives are at stake. She nods imperceptably at herself and turns to Indra. «LAX Tower Control is the main hub for all the other airports.»

«Fix the software there, it autocorrects in Long Beach and Burbank,» Indra continues.

«So, the new software's the glitch – first step is to delete that, then download the old software. Should be enough for the planes to land.» Lexa says while rolling up her sleeves. 

«So you're doing it?» Indra asks. 

«We go to LAX -» Monty chimes in, «we fix the software, we are at a 90% chance of success.»

«Grab your equipment,» Lexa says and the team spread out. «Mine too, please.» She walks up to Indra. «Must've been keeping tabs on me to find me so quickly,» she says accusingly.

«I got promoted to the LA office. Only makes sense that I would track you down,» Indra answers. 

«Your body language suggests that's about half the truth,» Anya says as she walks past them.

«Of course there's a chance that everyone dies,» Monty says as he hands Lexa her jacket and walks out. 

Lexa takes the jacket and puts it on, «cross me on this, I'll go online and in less than an hour, I will erase you.» She looks Indra directly in the eye. 

~~~~~

Pretty soon they are speeding down the highway in black SUV's.

«Alright, listen,» Anya says from the backseat, sticking her head towards the front, «when the FBI and the NSA fail, do we get some kind of bonus here? I'd be willing to go double or nothing.»

«Anya,» Lexa scolds her. 

«I'm just saying.»

«They were your top choice for this?» the driver asks Indra.

«Lexa Woods is one of the five smartest people alive, so yes.»

There's silence for a few seconds before the radio crackles, «be advised, just got from headquarters there's a major pile-up on the 405, LAX is unreachable for a few hours. Repeat, LAX is a no-go.»

«Copy that,» Indra sighs.

«Call a helicopter!» Anya chimes in.

«Air traffic's been shut down until the situation is resolved,» Indra counters.

«No copter?» Monty asks nervously and turns to Lexa, «we're down to a 17% chance of success.»

«Pipe down, Rain Man,» the driver says. 

«Call him that again and you better hope the feds have a good dental plan,» Raven says, clearly upset.

«This is what we get with a car full of geniuses?» the driver looks at Indra.

«What you'll get is a solution if everyone keeps their mouth shut,» Lexa says looking around.

«Everyone quiet!» Indra yells from the front.

There's another few seconds of quiets before Lexa speaks again, «we don't need to go to LAX. We just need a reliable wireless signal with no chance of going down. I just fixed one a mile north of here.»

The tires of the car squeal as they turn in to the parking lot. Team Scorpion enter the diner in a rush.

«Owner!» Indra yells as she enters. «Agent Forrest, Homeland Security,» she says as she pulls ut her badge, «we need to commandeer your diner for a national emergency. You can stay, but that's it.» She throws an envelope full of money on the counter and the owner looks like he just won the lottery.

«Everybody out!» he yells. «Come on, come on, out!» He starts waving his arms and chasing people out, not even bothering to let them pay for their meals. The waitress Lexa had seen earlier, Clarke, was just standing there looking at the commotion, clearly confused.

People all but run outside, and Indra walks up to Monty who is busying himself with wiping of the counter with an antibacterial wetwipe. «What are you doing?» she asks.

«Any idea the bacteria on countertops?» Monty answers. «Just from chicken alone there are over 20 diseases you can get from exposure. This is wildly upsetting.» Indra just throws her hands up in the air in response and walks away from him.

Clarke is about to leave as well when the owner grabs her arm, «no no no, you stay.»

«Uh, Nemos, no customers, no tip, and I cannot leave Aden here with-»

«Listen,» the owner interrupts her, «my immigration status makes me not so comfortable around Federal agents. You lock up,» he says and leaves, giving Clarke no choice.

«Aden?» Lexa says while she sets up her computer, «good to see you again.» Aden barely looks at her, still playing with the salt and pepper shakers, and other things he's found on the counter.

«Roughly 89 minutes until the first plane goes down,» Indra yells. «Their lives are in our hands.»

«Is there something wrong at LAX?» Clarke asks Monty who is sitting by the counter.

«I-t's top secret,» he answers nervously.

«How can it be top secret if the lady who set up our wireless is working on it?» she nods towards Lexa.

«Raven, script a POST check after the system's stabilized,» Lexa orders as she closes her laptop. «Monty, run the odds on the patch linking back into the software, we do not want the same problem tomorrow. Anya..» she pauses. «Look for a saboteur.»

«Lexa, look for coffee. This is gonna take me like, 90 seconds.» Anya answers.

«Screw this up, brains and guts are gonna bounce all over town.» Monty announces sarcastically.

«Actually, fuel tanks ignite on impact,» Raven chimes in, «you won't find a body part.»

«Eh, a blood-soaked spleen could burn at a slower rate,» Anya adds.

Clarke suddenly walks up to them, «hey, please check your language around my nine-year-old. Be decent in my place of work. Thank you.» She leaves no room for discussion and walks back to Aden.

Indra comes busting through the door again, «Secure channel to LAX. Air traffic supervisor is on the line. His name is Brooks.»

«Okay,» Lexa takes the phone Indra hands her. «Mr. Brooks, I am hacking into airport security. I'm gonna rotate the cameras to point at the monitors. I'll see it remotely and I'll walk you through each step.»

«Who am I on with here?» Brooks asks. «I am not comfortable with you hacking into anything at this airport.»

«Then don't make it so easy,» Lexa simply answers. «To answer your question, my name is Lexa Woods, and I was brought in to fix your problem since you are not capable of doing it yourself.» They are gathering around Lexa and the laptop and Clarke is observing them in the background. «Look behind you, say hello to the camera Mr. Brooks,» Lexa turns a security camera to point at Mr. Brooks, «I'm at your 10 o'clock. Our goal is to reboot your computer and land those planes. To do that, hit control C right in between the flickers at the exact moment that I say now. Ready?»

Mr. Brooks turns back around from the camera and readies his hands at control and C at his keyboard. 

«Now,» Lexa says and he hits the buttons. The computer screen flickers between a blue and black screen and Mr. Brooks groans. 

«I missed it. It's too fast.»

«Moving on,» Lexa says, «you, short sleeves and tie, you in the glasses,» she zooms in on a young man on the screen, «you code, right?»

«A little,» he answers. «How'd you know?»

«Lucky guess. What's your name?»

«Randy.»

«Randy, take Mr. Brooks' seat,» Lexa commands.

Randy looks nervous but does as he's told. «You guys are talking about planes going down. I'm just an intern.»

«You just got promoted! Sit down!» Indra yells from behind Lexa.

«Mr. Brooks, can you give Randy the original installation disk to download?» Lexa is talking again.

«That software was installed 15 years ago! I have no idea where it is.»

Lexa sighs, «where do you back up your data?»

«Blackstern Data Storage,» he answers.

«Okay, we can get a copy of the old software from the backup server, I e-mail it to Brooks, he clicks a link and the system is up and running as if the corrupted software was never downloaded,» Lexa says to the people hanging around her.

«Blackstern's on Ventura,» Monty says, looking up from his computer. «Northeast. Opposite direction of the gridlock.»

«You should know that the data is backed up to the latest software every 12 hours on the five,» Brooks chimes in. 

«So, in 20 minutes, the last remaining useable software will be corrupted. Raven, Anya, get to the server and get me that backup disk,» Lexa says and they immediately react. «Monty, call the data center and tell them we're on our way. I'm gonna prep here to relay to LAX.»

«Bates, take 'em. Stay in contact,» Indra commands the agent hovering beside them.

«Lexa, you tell that waitress I'm gonna be right back,» Anya says.

«Anya, in situations like this, carelessness, mistakes, they will haunt you,» Lexa responds, clearly not catching the joking tone of Anya's voice. «I know this from experience.»

«Lexa. I'm always on point. Have you seen my hat?» Anya pats Lexa's shoulder and leaves.

Clarke catiously approaches Lexa with a glass of water, «here, I thought you might be thirsty.»

«Thank you,» Lexa barely looks Clarke up and down before lingering on her hands. «You have anemia,» she adds matter-of-factly and turns back to the computer.

Clarke just looks confused.

«It turns your fingernails pitted, that's why your nail polish looks streaky,» Lexa explains and Clarke looks at her nails. «You need more iron.»

«Okay,» Clarke chuckles. «I don't recall asking, Einstein.»

«Einstein had a 160 IQ, mine's 197.»

«Wow, so you must know everything about me, if you're that smart.»

Lexa looks briefly at Clarke's feet before glancing at Aden, «you have no-name sneakers, he has orthotics. Whatever you have goes to Aden. The inflammation under your eyes from lack of sunlight comes from working two jobs. As for the boy's father, I'd make calculated assumptions in the realm of interpersonal communication issues.»

Clarke just raises her eyebrows, «oh so we split because I have issues communicating,» she scoffs, «and I thought it was the blonde in Tahoe. Who the hell are you to tell me that my polish looks cheap?» she asks incredously. «That-that hurts my feelings. Do you understand?»

«Yeah,» Lexa drags it out and looks away from Clarke. «I recognize that. I've been told things like that a lot before.»

«And my polish streaks because Aden does it.» Clarke adds. «He loves to paint and don't tell me that he needs help either. He's challenged. Have some empathy.»

Lexa takes a long look at Aden who is playing with the salt and pepper shakers again and sighs. «Challenged, huh?» she asks and stands up next to Clarke so they're both facing the counter where Aden is sitting. «Look at Monty and him. Do you know what they're doing?»

Clarke shakes her head.

«The matches are the king, the jelly is the queen, the sugar packets are the knights,» Lexa explains and Clarke's frown gets deeper. «He's playing chess with a grand master who's about to lose.»

«Lexa, do you see this?» Monty yells excitedly, «check mate in eight moves! This kid is amazing!»

Tears are welling up in Clarke's eyes as she looks at Lexa and realises what she's saying.

«And he doesn't like to paint your nails. He does it because he wants to hold your hand, but he can't process physical contact.» She pauses, «so help him. Or he will never connect with you.» She turns fully towards Clarke, «I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your son is a genius.»

~~~~~

«Lexa, we're approaching the data center,» Raven says through the phone, «we should have the backup hard drive soon.»

The black SUV pulls up outside the building but they're met with closed and locked doors.

«No, it's supposed to be open 24/7!» Anya exclaims.

«Looks like they cut out,» Raven says and Anya bangs on the door in front of her. «Lex? We got a problem. No one's home.»

«You're the mechanincal engineer, pick the lock!» Indra yells.

«I have my tools but it'll take a lot longer than the six minutes we have before the bad software backs up onto the servers,» Raven surveys the lock.

«Bates, get them in,» Indra orders.

Bates immediately pulls out his gun, «step aside.» 

«Whoa!» Raven brings his hands down and Anya leaps aside, «are you insane?»

«You're the one putting hands on a Fed,» he answers.

«That is a 75-millimeter, six-layer polycarbonate casing,» Raven grits her teeth. «It won't break, but a round could deflect and kill somebody.» She picks up her phone, «Lex, please don't let the Fed talk anymore.» Raven is pissed and the fact that these are Federal agents no longer has any meaning to her.

«We're down to a four percent chance of success,» Monty says anxiously,

«Five minutes from now, the software we need disappears forever,» Indra says calmly through the phone. «If that happens, 20 000 people die!» She is no longer as calm.

«Hey Aden, let's go in the office, okay?» Clarke whispers to her son, not wanting him to hear all this.

«We got to abandon the data center. We got to pull the team back, get four minds working together at once, and then, maybe within an hour we'll be able..» Lexa is talking quietly to indra.

«By then the first two planes will be out of fuel,» Indra protests. «Do you really think you can come up with an option by then?»

«Hold on,» Clarke has walked up to them now, «you're just accepting two planes going down.»

«We lose two planes to save 54,» Indra answers. «That's a trade we're gonna have to make.» She turns towards an agent sitting in the booth behind her and hands him a note, «contact the FAA and tell them these two flights are terminal.»

«Agent Forrest is implementing the greater good theory,» Lexa takes a step towards Clarke. «Loss is acceptable as long as the resulting gain is large enough.»

«No it isn't,» Clarke objects. «You save everybody. Normal people save everybody.»

There is that word again. Normal. Lexa is far past the point of accepting who she is and generally doesn't care what people think of her, but when Clarke says it, somehow it stings a bit more. It's a strange feeling for Lexa. «I'm not normal.»

«I don't care!» Clarke exclaims. «Use that 197 IQ of yours. Take a deep breath and reset,» she commands. 

It's complete silence for a few seconds before Lexa springs to life, «reset! Reset, reset..» she keeps repeating the word until she grabs the phone, «Raven we need to reset the door lock.» she turns around to point at Indra, «We need to brown-out ten blocks around the data center.»

«Kill the electricity to part of Los Angeles?» Indra laughs.

«Mhm.»

«Just turn it of in that one building!»

«We can't focus a surge that precisely, but a brief power surge will open up the door, and we'll be able to get in.» Lexa is excited she found a solution but at the same time she's agitated from having to explain everything all the time.

«You're gonna owe me a new slim pick,» Raven says, already fiddling with the wires in the lock.

«All right, we need to find a municipal junction box that covers that area,» Lexa is now unable to stand still and is walking around. «It should be on a commercial street.»

«I'll check the south.»

«North.»

Raven and Anya immediately run in opposite directions.

«Got one!» Agent Bates yells and points ahead.

«Okay, calculate the kilowatts it'll take to overpower a surge within a ten-block rdaius.» Lexa says to Monty. «no no no no no,» she says when Monty stops by the menu on the black board. «Not now, Monty.»

«Wait, wait, what are you doing?» Indra asks when Monty starts rearranging the pieces of chalk.

«I can't calculate without order, it's my process.»

«My process involves my foot up your ass!»

«Hold on,» Clarke says, pushing all but one piece of chalk off the board and handing it to Monty, «here. One piece. It's the biggest and the smallest so it's in order.»

«That works,» Monty smiles and erases whats on the board before starting the math.

«uh, Monty, I don't want to hurry your process-» Lexa begins.

«500 000 kilowatts!» he interrupts her.

«All right!» Lexa slaps Montys shoulder before going back to the phone, «we need exactly 500 000 kilowatts, can you handle that.»

«Come on,» Raven, who has already gotten the junction box open, rolls her eyes. «Who rigged our whole office this morning? I'm on it.» She looks around and flips a bunch of switches, «okay you ready? Here we go.» She finally turns a big lever and sparks fly from the lock where Anya and Bates are still standing. 

The garage doors open and Anya grabs the phone, «we're in, we're in!»

Raven comes running back and they both enter the building, running through the halls until they find what they're looking for.

«There!» Anya yells.

They burst through the door to the server room and immediately stops. The room is full servers, hundreds, if not thousands.

«Not good,» Raven says and looks at her watch, «we have less than a minute, which one is it?»

«Okay,» Anya says wiggling her fingers and surveying the room, «these servers run the facilities, so the clients would be in the cage.» She points to the caged in servers at the back of the room. She quickly turns and looks around for a second before abruptly walking towards the desk by the door. She grabs a photo and points to one of the people in it, «yeah, this guy, he's the boss. Cuff links, tie clip, anal micro-manager.» They both start walking towards the cage in the back again and Anya keeps rambling. «Makes all the calls as to what gets stored where. Look at his belt tail; he's a lefty, so we eliminate the right side servers. He'd subconciously put a big client like LAX on his dominant hand side.»

«There's still about 250 servers left,» Raven finally gets a word in.

«Okay, you think LAX, you think planes. You think planes, you think high, so eliminate the bottom three shelves.» Anya really is in her element now. Analyzing is what she does, and the high pressure situation gives her the adrenaline she needs to really get a kick from this. 

«100 servers left, 10 seconds!» Raven is so close to panicking. «Get on it!»

«He's what, five-six, tops?» Anya looks at the man in the photo who is barely reaching the shoulders of those next to him. «So it won't be the top shelf. Napoleonic boss man would never use a step ladder in front of his employees.» She drags her hand across the servers around her eye level, «so it's one of theeeese- this one!» she doesn't hesitate a second before grabbing one and pulling it out.

«Time's up!» Raven yells. They breathe for a second before Raven asks, «how did you know for sure?»

«'Cause it says LAX right here,» Anya point to a label and looks at Raven.

Raven just rolls her eyes looking mildly irritated.

«Oh, you are impressed,» Anya says and walks away.

~~~~~

Back at the diner Aden is sitting at the counter, staring at the clock, with Clarke staring at him. The things Lexa told her gave her a whole new perspective, and she sees her son in a whole different light. He isn't challenged. At least not in the way she thought. These people are helping her understand her son in a whole new way and it's wonderful and terrifying and relieving and everything all at the same time.

«He doesn't even know we're here,» Monty walks up to her and points behind her, «he's wondering if those flashlights can be powered by the heat of the hand that holds them.»

Clarke just looks behind here and doesn't even know how to respond.

«Or he's calculating the cubic footage of the octagon clock,» Monty continues. «He thinks about anything. Everything.»

«Did you let him beat you earlier?» she asks.

Monty lets out a laugh, «no.» He smiles.

Clarke shakes her head, «I-I had no idea he even liked chess.» 

«Few parents meaningfully engage with mentally enabled children. It's not your fault,» Monty reassures her. He stops for a second and looks at Aden, «it's just... how we are.»

Monty looks so sad and lost in that moment that Clarke can't help putting an arm on his shoulder. «How did your parents handle it?»

He raises his eyebrows, «oh, I-I haven't spoken to them in ten years.»

Clarke's breath quickens at this and she can't do anything but stare at him. The moment is broken by a sudden rapid beeping from behind Monty and he walks away to check it.

Clarke looks back at Aden who hasn't moved at all. She really doesn't want that to be their story. That boy is her life and she would do anything for him.

«NSA satellite link failed,» Indra walks towards Lexa, «where the hell are your people? That kid Anya doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.»

«Anya grew up penniless, gambled her way through school,» Lexa says, feeling a need to defend her friend. «Even then, she got her doctorate at the age of 17. Sometimes people like us need... repair, before we can fit into your world.» There's a bitter tone to her words.

«I know the aftermath was devastating,» Indra says, and they are clearly talking about something else now. «I did keep tabs on you.»

They stare each other down for a few seconds before the door is opened and the bell jingles. «Seats back and tray tables up!» Anya sings. «Those planes are as good as landed.» She hands Lexa the storage device.

«Endlessly patting herself on the back the entire ride here,» Raven complains. 

«I just want a statue of me at LAX,» Anya shrugs at Indra.

«Now what?» Indra asks.

«Easy as sending a file,» Lexa rolls up the sleeves of her shirt. «Mr. Brooks, in a moment you'll recieve a bug-free version of the software. All you have to do is open your e-mail and click a link.» Anya and Raven high fives behind her. Lexa's hands fly over the keyboard when there's suddenly a rapid beeping. «Wait. The hard drive's frozen. The files are corrupted, they're useless.» She looks at Raven.

«We took it out as carefully as we could.»

«How'd you transport it?»

«It was wrapped in a towel, tucked in a door console so I wouldn't drop it,» Anya answered.

Lexa sighs and thinks for a second, «was there an audio speaker in the door?»

«Yeah, so? What?»

Lexa squeezes her eyes shut and starts walking around, «the magnet erased the hard drive. It's useless now!»

«No no no no, it's not my fault,» Anya frowns, «I didn't know anything about magnets in car speakers.»

«You've stolen hundreds of them, Anya,» Lexa immediately responds.

Anya sits down and rubs her face.

«No place on earth has what we need,» Lexa says solemnly.

«FBI just texted,» Indra interrupts. «They're out too.»

«We're at less than one percent,» Monty says quietly.

Everyone is just looking around at each other when Lexa has enough. She slams open the back door and storms out. Both Indra and Clarke are hot on her heels.

«You know what I'm gonna tell you,» Indra says when they're outside.

«There was a fourth team. Tracking the planes via radar.» Lexa is breathing heavy now. «Circling over the ocean.. fighter jets..»

«You'll shoot them down?» Clarke asks from behind Indra.

«Same protocol was activated on 9/11 to prevent possible ground casualties.»

«Can you think of anything we can do?» Indra asks. Lexa just shakes her head and Indra dials a number on her phone. «Contact Director Merrick. Tell him we need to activate the fourth option.» Indra disappears back in to the diner and Clarke and Lexa are left alone.

Lexa groans and Clarke walks towards her, «hey Lexa, I know whats going on.»

«Actually, there's only 100 people in the world who really know anything and unfortunately, you're not one of them,» Lexa looks down to the ground.

Clarke ignores the jab and continues, «you're doing what Aden does when he doesn't understand how to fix a problem. He panics and shuts down.When you don't know something, you feel like you don't know anything.»

«For all practical purposes, I have no right brain,» Lexa is agitated now, «people with high IQ tend to have low EQ, that's emotional quotient, so these big speeches, these pep talks. They don't work on me.» she shakes her head, «they work on athletes, they work on children, they work on waitresses,» she motions towards Clarke, «they don't work on people like me.»

«Oh, oh, I get it,» Clarke is getting kind of tired of being belittled like this, «I'm the dumb waitress.»

«I never called you that,» Lexa tries.

Clarke won't have it and just raises her voice to talk over Lexa, «but I'm smart enough to know that you're scared. You don't know how to solve the problem and you're terrified because people will die.»

«Well, they won't die because of me,» Lexa denies.

«And they won't live because of you either! Because you're just giving up and walking away.»

«Don't lecture me about how people dying will make me feel!» Lexa is yelling now because Clarke doesn't understand. «I already know!»

Clarke frowns and quietly asks, «what does that mean?»

Lexa bends forward with her hands on her knees and shakes her head. 

«Lexa.. what does that mean?»

Lexa takes a breath and thinks about telling Clarke, but something behind her catches Lexa's eye. Clarke turns around and sees Aden staring up at the sky. 

«Hey sweetheart, let's go back inside okay?»

Lexa turns to look at what Aden is staring at, and sees a giant plane flying over them. She runs inside and catches Indra on the phone. «Don't hang up. Tell them there's still a chance.»

Indra turns to look at Lexa, «put a pin in that, sir. We may have something here.»

«Software's on the planes.» Lexa says. «They use a duplicate copy to communicate with the tower. Now, if they took off before this mornings update, like a flight from Australia or New Zealand, they'll still have the bug-free software on board!»

«okay,» Indra says, «but we still have the same problem. What we need is seven miles over our head and there's no way to get in touch with the people who have it.»

There's silence again beacuse Lexa still doesn't have an answer to that. She looks around and spots a changing traffic light outside and an idea forms. «Yes there is.»

~~~~~

«Klemmer Airfield is 20 minutes away,» Lexa says. «Get me there in ten and I can download that software.»

«If you're gonna shut down all the roads that lead to Klemmer Airfield there's gonna be lots of moving parts,» Indra says. «I still think it's the wrong play, the runways are too short there.»

«It's just a low fly-by,» Lexa says softly.

«There's a neighborhood next door. If something goes wrong you take out half a block.»

«It's actually four blocks,» Lexa clarifies, «but I won't let that happen.»

«I don't know if that's going to be enough to get LAPD to set up rolling road blocks.» Indra really isn't sure about this. «We're talking about major roads in a major city. There's safety risks, there's procedure..»

«I know what you're doing,» Lexa interrupts. «You're covering yourself in case of casualties.»

«I don't put protocol over lives.»

«Lives?» Lexa scoffs. «Suddenly you're worried about lives?»

«We can debate the past later. Right now, if you want my help, then let me make the calls and see if I can't get this done for you. Let's go,» Indra looks at Bates as she walks away from Lexa.

Lexa just watches her leave until the door is closed behind her before turning towards Raven and Anya, «I know she thinks she's helping, but we don't have time for bureaucracy right now. Raven, if I hack you into the DOT, can you manipulate the traffic signals?»

«They're on standard sequencers, don't see why not,» Raven shrugs.

«So you shut down the roads, we drive fast as hell, we might be able to pull this off. Anya, I need you to check the manifest for a passenger up there-»

«Whose phone is still on,» Anya completes. «Lex, I got this, don't worry.»

«All right,» Lexa smiles. «I'm gonna need to upgrade my wireless antenna software to pick up the signal from the plane, so someone's gonna have to drive me there.»

«Um.. I don't have my license but-» Monty pipes up. «-I'm more of a bus guy. I-I understand the basic mechanics of how this works..»

«Monty,» Lexa smiles at him. «I really need you here helping Anya. But thank you pal.»

Monty just sighs happily in response.

Aden, who has been watching this whole encounter, looks at the keys on the counter beside him before slowly picking them up and presenting them to Clarke. She smiles softly at him before taking a step towards Lexa, «uh, driving through LA with nothing but green lights.. It's kind of always been a fantasy of mine.» 

«At high speed?» Lexa raises her eyebrows, «no.»

«Somebody's gotta drive,» Clarke shakes the keys.

«Come on,» Lexa says and pulls her aside. «Your son needs you.»

«I've tried really hard, but I've never been able to fully connect with him, not in the way I've seen him connect with you guys today. What my son needs is to see me help you,» Clarke nods towards Lexa. «Please, Lexa.»

Lexa just looks at her for a second. «You're a good mom.» Another second passes and she frowns, «or a very bad one.»

~~~~~

Indra is outside, yelling at someone on the phone about roadblocks when suddenly a car screeches past her, and she sees Clarke and Lexa in the front seats. «What the..» She immediately turns around and runs to her car to follow them.

In the car Clarke and Lexa have Raven on speaker and are speeding through the streets of LA. 

«Okay, Lexa, I'm tracking you on the traffic cams. They should start changing... now.» Raven says.

Clarke looks ahead and sees all the lights in front of her turn green, «it's working!»

They speed through crossings, barely avoiding the other cars around.

«We're at 100, this thing doesn't have air bags!» Clarke yells.

«Well, you know at these speeds, they're useless,» Lexa answers calmly, more focused on the computer in her lap. «Go faster.»

«There's 440 people on the flight,» Anya yells back at the diner. «They all have their phones off 'cause they're on a damn plane. How the hell am I supposed to communicate with them?»

«I'm checking Sigalert, you should head south on Hilgard to Manning, then Santa Monica to Bundy,» Raven says, looking at the screen in front of her. «I'll get you a clean path.»

Clarke is swerving through the streets, practically shitting her pants trying not to crash when a black SUV pulls up behind them. «I think that's Agent Forrest!»

«Keep driving,» Lexa looks in the side mirror.

«Guys, stay frosty, I can't get the light on Barrington to change over,» Raven sounds a little panicked.

«No, no, Lexa...» Clarke sees the red light and the truck coming from the right, «no, no, no, no, no.» She almost closes her eyes and braces for impact when the SUV comes up from behind them and slams directly into the red truck. 

«Oh, God,» Lexa looks at the wrecks behind them, and they're both breathing loudly. «What the hell was that?» she yells into the phone. 

«Greater good theory in practice,» Indra answers proudly. «Now just get to that airfield and don't make me regret this!»

«We're almost there. Anya, did you find a passenger on one of those planes with an active phone?»

«Monty, I need more passenger names,» Anya ignores Lexa's question. 

«Novell software technology's too old to do any of this in five minutes,» Monty breathes. «And even if someone's phone was on, how do we get in touch with them at 36 000 feet?»

«Old technology!» Anya yells. «That's it! We find someone with an out-of-date analog phone.»

Raven quickly realises what she's getting at, «the recievers are 10 times stronger than smartphones. They can get a signal up there,» she smiles.

«All right, we lose anyone under 50,» Anya taps away at the keyboard. «Can't make over six figures, can't work for a tech company... Salesmen! Salesmen never turn off their phones, they risk losing business. And... duhduhduhduh.... Gordon Tooley! Plastics salesman from Reseda returning from a work trip. Service is linked to a Retron A-64 analog.»

«Call him!» Monty yells excitedly.

On a plane above them a sudden ringing is heard. An old man fishes an old flip phone out of his chest pocket, «hello?»

«Mr. Tooley,» Anya says, «listen carefully. This is Homeland Security. There's an emergency on your flight, we need your help.»

«Nice try, Sully,» the old man laughs. «I'll see you at work, ya putz.»

«Yeah, this isn't Sully, 'cause Sully wouldn't know that right now, outside of your window are the Santa Monica mountains, and right above them are two F-22's ready to shoot you out of the sky.» Anya is literally pulling out the big guns. «So I need you to get off your ass, grab a flight attendant and tell them to get your phone to the pilot.»

~~~~~

Back in the car Clarke is still trying her best to avoid certain death as Mr. Tooley's phone has reached the pilot. 

«This is Captain Pike, standing by.»

«Captain Pike, you're carrying an uncorrupted version of control tower software,» Lexa explains. «Now you need to e-mail it to me so it can be downloaded at LAX.»

«Copy, but out onboard wireless only has limited reach. What do you want me to do?»

«Buzz the tower at 100 feet,» Lexa says getting out of the car. They finally reached the airfield, alive. «I should be able to grab your wireless.»

«Where will you be?»

«We just arrived at Klemmer Airfield, we called ahead, runway 2's been cleared.»

«I'm right over Klemmer,» the pilot says. «Could be there in less than a minute.» He puts the phone down and turns to his co-pilot, «time to advise the passengers.»

The co-pilot picks up a microphone, «ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats with your seatbelt fastened.»

Down at the airfield Clarke and Lexa has just arrived at the tower.

«Miss Woods?»

«Yes.»

«I've got a space cleared for you up here.»

«Thank you, okay.» Lexa is quickly pulling out her computer and setting it up. «I've linked my computer up to LAX, so as soon as I get the download they'll have it as well.»

«Here it comes!» Clarke yells, looking out the window.

«Captain Pike, maintain at 100 feet. I should be able to catch your Wi-fi signal and download your software.»

The plane flies over them for less than a second. «This is Captain Pike, do I have confirmation? Over. Were you able to download that software?»

Lexa lets out a deep sigh before answering, «no, there's too much of a speed differential between a plane and a stationary laptop.»

«Let's try again,» Clarke tries.

«Doing the same thing but expecting a different result is the definition of insanity,» Lexa scratches her neck. «It won't work.»

«Miss Woods, I've got 240 souls onboard. Please tell me there's something else you can do.»

Lexa says looking out the window, pausing for a second. «I just solved the speed differential problem.» She grabs Clarke's hand and they run towards the parking lot. «Raven, I need you to get me into a Ferrari 458.»

«Force the gas cap open,» Raven doesn't even need a second to think. «There's an engine cover emergency release.»

«All right,» Lexa says and follows Raven's instructions.

«Left hand side of the engine bay, pull out the ECM chip.»

Lexa makes quick work of the car and soon she is revving the engine. «Can you get that plane about eight feet off the ground?» she asks the pilot.

«Eight feet? What for?»

«Can't risk missing the wireless signal again, so we're gonna have to hardwire it into the computer.»

«You're the world's smartest computer lady, and this comes down to plugging something in?» Clarke scoffs.

«How exactly do you plan on doing this?» the pilot asks.

«We're gonna be driving 200 miles an hour underneath you.»

«What?» Clarke bursts out. This was not how she expected her day to go.

«Yeah.»

«You only have seven seconds to recieve that file,» the pilot says. «Any longer and we're not gonna get this plane back up and we will crash.»

«On top of us?» Clarke is really not believing this is how her day has ended up.

«That will not happen,» Lexa pauses, «most likely. Do it in one minute.»

«Roger that. Good luck.» Captain Pike looks at his co-pilot, «you were in the Air Force right?»

«uh huh»

«You expect me to sit in this car while a plane is right over us?» Clarke is kind of wishing she didn't argue her way into this.

«No, you're gonna be standing through the sunroof,» Lexa says like it's no big deal. 

«Ah, okay,» Clarke almost wants to cry.

«Okay, you-you're gonna have to trust me now,» Lexa steps towards Clarke. «I will not let anything happen to you. You're the one that said you wanted to save everyone. This is our only chance.»

They can see the plane turning around in the distance.

«Preparing for second approach,» they hear from Captain Pike.

They quickly get in the car and the tires screech as Lexa drifts on to the runway, the plane fast approaching behind them.

«Oh my god,» Clarke says shakily.

«Are you ready?» Lexa asks.

«No..»

«Hit the roof panel.» Lexa is looking straight ahead in concentration. One wrong move and they'll only be recognizable through dental records.

«okay, okay,» Clarke breathes fast and hesitates.

«Do it now!»

Clarke pushes the roof panel as hard as she can and it instantly flies off and lands somewhere behind them. The plane looms above them and Lexa steps on the gas pedal to keep up. She holds them steady right beneath the wheels where the co-pilot is standing on shaky legs, holding a long cable. Clarke struggles with reaching it, stretching her arm as far as she can while staying safe in the car. They give it several tries without success until Clarke steps slightly on the seat, managing a small jump-like movement and finally grabs a hold of the cable.

«Got it!» she yells and quickly plugs it in the computer, «it's donwloading, it's downloading!»

«What's it say?» Lexa asks, not able to look at the screen herself for obvious reasons.

«I don't know, uh, a few seconds; it needs a few seconds.»

«We're running out of road!» Lexa starts breathing a little faster.

«Still loading! Just a few seconds!»

The plane can't stay that low anymore and the pilot has to pull it up, but the download isn't finished and the cable gets tighter, slowly bringing the computer with it.

«No, no, no, no!» Clarke yells, trying to hold on.

«No, no, hold on!» Lexa yells.

«Lexa! Lexa it's done!» Clarke is standing in the seat now, hanging over the front window, still holding the computer.

«Hold on to it!»

«It's going! Got it!» Clarke pushes a button and drops the computer and Lexa slams the break as Clarke throws herself back in the seat.

The plane flies dangerously low over the tower, the wing hitting the top, but the pilot manages to keep it in the air. Lexa makes a sharp turn with the car and it skids to a stop right at the end of the runway. 

Back in the diner everyone is cheering as they announce that communications is back up. Monty ruffles Aden's hair, «your mom did that.»

Both Lexa and Clarke are breathing heavy in the car, just looking ahead before Clarke suddenly throws the door open, coughing and retching. Lexa just laughs and throws her head back, enjoying being alive.

~~~~~

They're picked up at the airport by the rest of the team and Indra. Lexa approaches her slowly.

«Deal's a deal,» Indra says and hands Lexa a handful of envelopes.

Lexa sighs deeply and looks at them. «Clarke.. she deserves a share.» 

«I'll see to it,» Indra nods. «When we worked together.. that didn't pan out the way either of us wanted. I was hoping, moving forward, things could be different.»

Lexa crosses her arms and looks at the ground, «moving forward?»

«I came to LA to start a strategic response team,» Indra admits. «At any given time we deal with everything from stolen nukes to missing kids to counterfeit cash so good it can collapse our economy in less than a month. The bad guys are getting smarter, and I can't train my agents to think like you do. I have the full recources of the U.S. Government. I need your help, and I think you and your team need a home.»

Lexa just looks around in thought, turns slightly before looking back at indra and hands her a note, «here.»

Indra immediately opens it, «fixed salaries, cars, research lab.» She smiles, «you saw this coming.»

«It was your only logical move.»

Indra's only response is reaching out for a handshake, one Lexa accepts after a moment and grabs her arm, right under the elbow. They part and Lexa walks back to her team, smiling slightly.

«Okay, lips are parted, leaning slightly forward. You have something to tell us,» Anya says.

«She offered us jobs,» Lexa chuckles.

Raven just grins and Monty gapes.

«Me too?» Anya asks quietly.

«We're a team, aren't we?» Lexa smiles and subconsciously looks around.

«The waitress just left to bring her son home, you just missed her,» Anya smirks.

~~~~~

The knock on her door startles Clarke and she hurries to open it. She's confused for a second before composing herself, «Lexa. Come in,» she smiles.

«I know it's late, I'm sorry. I just wanted to, um, say thank you for your help today,» Lexa says as she enters the apartment. 

«You're welcome.» The smile on Clarke's face seems permanently etched in. Lexa doesn't say anything more and Clarke chuckles, «you came all the way over here to tell me that?»

«No, I also wanted to offer you a job. Government-funded problem solvers,» Lexa smiles.

«Uh... why? I'm-I'm not a genius.»

«No, but you are raising one. That takes uh, someone smart, brave..» As Lexa talks the smile on Clarke's face turn into more of a dreamy look and it has an unexpected effect on Lexa, throwing her a bit off. «Now, our work requires, uh, interaction with people,» she explains. «I'ts not our strength. You want to know about your son, I can translate him for you. You translate the world for us,» she grins and pulls out a piece of paper. «It's um... salary.. plus benefits.»

Clarke can't do anything but gape at the paper, is Lexa serious? She pulls her hand to her mouth in astonishment.

«You're worried about not being able to connect with Aden. That is a second chance.»

Clarke is still speechless and shakes her head, letting out a quick breath. «For you, too. For you and Indra,» she says and Lexa looks to the floor.

«When I was 16, Indra asked me to develop tracking software to drop military aid packages,» Lexa starts softly. «So months later, I uh.. I turned on the TV, and I saw bombs falling on Baghdad. They were using my system, and I designed it for speed over accuracy.» she pauses. «So 2000 civilians died.»

This was not what Clarke expected. She knew there was history between Lexa and Indra, that much she figured, but she didn't expect this to be it. «Lexa, you... you were just a kid.»

«Yeah, so is Aden. So tell him to ignore any sentence that starts with 'normally'. Make sure that he's not scared of anything that he's capable of.» Lexa is speaking with more emotion than she has in a long time, and frankly it feels good. She's begun to care for Aden a lot in such a short time. «And he'll find it difficult to make friends, and sometimes he'll feel like no one else in the world likes him.»

«Yeah,» Clarke blinks and a single tear falls from her eye but she quickly wipes it away.

«You just gotta make sure that he knows it's not his fault.»

«Hi, Lexa.» Speaking of. Aden comes into the room in pj's and hops on the couch to play video games.

«Hey, Aden.»

Another tear falls from Clarke's eye and now she doesn't bother with wiping it away, «he... he doesn't talk to anyone but me.»

«He recognizes one of his own,» Lexa reassures her and they both look at Aden, who silently pushes the second controller towards the other side of the couch. «May I?» she points towards him.

Clarke doesn't know what to say so she just nods and gestures towards the couch.

«Thank you.»

Clarke is left in the background, observing the interaction. She sighs with a small smile, her heart bursting with joy and wonder at this new development.

Aden doesn't look at Lexa when she sits down and just starts the game.

«You ever pause your dreams, Aden?» she asks. 

«Yeah,» he answers.

«Ever rewind them?»

«Sometimes.»

«Yeah, me too.»


End file.
